Comedian Vir Das: The Left vs. Right Divide is Overrated — ‘We’re All Hufflepuffs’

Comedian Vir Das comes from a Bollywood acting background and he’s been surrounded by over-the-top romance for his whole career. He said he hopes his newest tour, called “Loved,” is “the most relatable material that I have, because no matter where you are in the world, people are either in love or rejected.”

Das discussed his international appeal and the spread of comedy and culture thanks to platforms like Netflix. He said, “With the advent of Netflix and the rest of them, we’re not really that different anymore. You know, we’re both watching ‘Game of Thrones,’ we’re both watching ‘Endgame,’ we’re both agonizing about Cardi B or whatever.”

Das is performing his current tour in about 35 countries. When asked what material lands no matter where he is, he said, “I think the love show is doing pretty well, because that’s just universal.”

Das said politicians capitalize on our left or right-wing sentiment to make us feel special. “Saying ‘You’re a Gryffindor: you’re a left-winger and it’s your job to defeat the Slytherins.’ And the Slytherins are being told that they’re the Gryffindors and we’re the Slytherins. But the truth is that we’re all Hufflepuffs, and none of us are special. That’s the truth.”

“I come from a household where one of my parents is a strong right-winger and one of my parents is a strong left-winger. They’re not having angry sex and yelling at each other every night,” he said, laughing. “They are just, you know, getting through the day. Meanwhile, the only people who are progressing are the people who don’t think of Left and Right, but up and down.”

Das said politicians and the media, especially social media, loves capitalizing on our differences, but we all have more in common than we might think.

He said, no matter what country you’re in, “99 percent of people want to watch…whatever their version of ‘The Bachelor’ is, and pay their bills and go to bed.”